Chapter 330 - 57: Testing The Soulfire Lamp

A/N : Aht here. Here's the next chapter!

These next couple of chapters will lay out a rough plan for Nao's first venture into the new world, but don't expect this first trip to be too long. I will likely have Nao come back at a later time after exploring his next couple of planes, when Ainz is well underway of his world conquest.

For now, Nao will recruit Zesshi and Evileye. The best route for that is him becoming an Adventurer (:

And perhaps Calca. For those who haven't read this far in ln, Calca does get pretty brutally murdered, so I might save her. Still thinking.

Of the places he will visit, I'm currently planning Re-estize, Baharuth Empire, Dwarven Mountains, the Elf Forest, Slane Theocracy, and lastly the Holy Capital.

Aa for canon events, I'm planning to have Nao join the Jaldaboath raid, and Jaldaboath demihuman army vs holy capital (both events on good side), so look forward to it~

Most of Season 1 and 2 is intelligence gathering, and well, Nao and his family don't really need to go that far with recon lol. His library has lots of story records already.

There's also a fun side page at end of chapter detailing individual character ages!

But enough from me. Don't forget to keep dropping those power stones and leave comments below!

*

"I promise, so help me up! I'm using all my strength here to keep myself steady from this stupid wind!", Eydis yelled out, letting her hair rapidly fling around in the wind.

Nao could feel the strong wind too as he was closest to the White Palace entrance. His robe was dancing wildly. Those closer to him could also feel it. It made sense, since they were so high up in the air. Nao briefly scanned the below surroundings too, only to see one massive continent surrounded by a few islands and a humongous ocean.

Nao then shifted his eyes back to the struggling Eydis. He bent his knees down, and stretched his hand out, as if the winds didn't phase him. Eydis looked up only to see a silver metallic hand reach out to her. It was as though she was striking a deal with the devil, but Eydis gritted her teeth, and accepted his hand.

Nao gracefully pulled her up without any resistance, like her body was weightless. Eydis found this surprising, and once she was back on the ground, she let out a hard sigh.

"Hah...My life just flashed through my eyes. I've dealt similar winds while riding Kirimai's back, but those winds were too much under that situation!"

Eydis then rolled her tongue out onto the floor, feeling exhausted now. Nao found this somehow cute.

"But who really are you? You look like an angel, and your hand was warm...Are we still in the Underworld? Or did I die and ascend the heavens?"

"Well, this place is no Underworld. Moreover, what is that System Call you mentioned earlier? Is it like GM Call?", Nao asked, feigning another question. 'Amazing, Eydis is acting just like a human...Last time I remember, she is the same as Alice, created by one of those artificial Fluctlight thingies. Once their avatar is generated, with the help of those fluctlights, they can develop their own souls over time...', Nao mused to himself.

A glint of light streaked across his eyes as he saw Eydis recover her stamina in the next few moments. He then opened his pocket dimension, bringing out an ancient, rustic lamp. Once Nao found himself and his family, turns out everyone had their own personal inventory created for their use. As Nao already had one, Yggdrasil's items automatically found their way from his inventory their to his own pocket dimension.

The White Palace now had a Treasury as well. Humongous mountains of gold coins stacked to the heavens. Really rare crafting materials, cash items, consumables, etc scattered on each mountain. Many pillars around the room housed individual World Items. Several equipment racks containing full divine gear sets could also be seen...

It was a wealthy Treasury that would make mortals bleed from their own greed and even make gods envious.

As for Nao, he retrieved a certain item from his pocket dimension. The same lamp that journeyed with him through Yggdrasil. The Auric Soulfire Lamp. The very same ancient rustic lamp that he had upgraded into a World Item. Only World Items could match its strength now.

Seeing Nao take out a weir lamp, Eydis, who had recovered some of her strength, suddenly felt a cold chill go down her spine, especially after hearing Nao give a request a request.

"Say, Eydis, was it? Would you be able to test something for me?", Nao asked. 'This would give be a good gauge on how this lamp works in the real world too...', Nao said to himself.

"...Why does it feel like you're about to do something bad? What's the deal with that old lamp? Are you going to call out a genie?"

"Pfft.", Nao replied with a chuckle. "Sadly, no. It servers a different purpose. It won't hurt you, at least I don't think it will."

"You think!?", Eydis yelled out, retorting him. She then let out a sigh. "Fine, you did save my b.u.t.t just now. I would've been squashed to death. I'm not too proficient in Wind Sacred Arts."

"Excellent. By the way you'll explain those Sacred Arts later.", Nao answered. He then willed the lamp to suck in Eydis, to see if she actually had a soul or not.

"Ehhh? I didn't agree to that--!?", Eydis tried to retort again, only to find her body literally s.u.c.k.e.d into the lamp, just as if a genie had made their final wish. "Damn Y--…", Eydis tried to curse out one more line, except a popping sound cut her voice off.

Eydis vanished from sight, leaving behind Nao and his family. If one had a faint look at the lamp, it now had a faint azure glow to it.

"So it was a success after all.", Nao said, beaming with a smile.

"Yes. The unknown entity, who calls herself Eydis was successfully absorbed into the Soulfire Lamp, reaching the conclusion that she is indeed, has a soul. Congratulations, Big Brother."

Nao almost tumbled over himself hearing Eve address like that.

"What did you just call me?"

"Big brother."

Hearing Eve address him like that, Nao gave himself a facepalm, slowly rubbing his metallic silver skin. Nao was among the couple who remained with his Heteromorphic avatar. The only one who joined him in that regard was Bukubukuchagama. Eve was able to grant her Racial Class a Form Change skill, letting her switch between a lovable slime and a human. Except her slime color is pure amber.

A moment passed in silence while the lamp glowed a faint azure light. Nao ended up letting out a sigh.

"I don't remember setting you to say that, Eve. Who was it?"

Eve didn't hesitate to answer, directly pointing her finger at a long fiery red haired woman wearing an ancient red and black Chinese qipao dress standing nearby, enjoying the breeze of the fierce winds outside.

"Of course it would be you, Miya...", Nao retorted.

Miya fidgeted her fingers before letting out a giggle.

"Teehee?", Miya responded, giggling. "Oh come on, I already address as you as Brother, don't I? What's the harm in adjusting one more like so? But if you're worried about me touching any of the others, I didn't."

"Is it wrong for me to address Big Brother as such? I can change but I enjoy calling you like this, Nao. Just like how I do with Big Sis."

"We typically don't use titles here in the White Palace. We did set the npcs to address me as Lord, just so there can be a clear line. But even that is pushing it. But arriving in such a place, it is likely that such a title will be needed...for this Plane for now. You can do as you want, Eve."

Hearing that, Eve beamed with a smile.

"Thank you, Big Brother!"

"Shall we all head back into the throne room to discuss our plans? Me personally I've already had a fulfilling life playing Yggdrasil, as that's what I mainly wanted to do. I don't see ourselves spending too much time here."

"I'm also getting a familiar vibe with this place. The vision you witnessed seems like its still in the future, and the characters we've come across are now joined with our family. The only two you realty have left with an interest is that heterochromatic girl Zesshi, and that vampire girl, Evileye, right?", Elsa said, cupping her chin with her hand, tilting her head a bit.

"Pretty much."

"Then yeah let's go discuss it. But first, why don't we take our new guest out of the lamp? We don't even know what it's like inside that thing yet."

"Haha, you're right. Why don't we hear it directly from her?", Nao answered with a chuckle.

It hadn't even been an hour since Eydis was s.u.c.k.e.d into it. Regardless, Nao willed the lamp to do its thing. Before long, a beautiful big b.r.e.a.s.ted silvery-beige haired woman materialized out of nowhere.

But the funny thing was, Eydis could now seen curled up into a ball, snoozing away without a care for the world. The only thing missing was her sword in her sheath.

Eydis felt a strong breeze strike against her, causing her eyes to flutter. She let out a small groan as she woke up, stretching her arms.

Rubbing her eyes, she spoke out softly.

"Mmm....so all of that was a dream after all."

Hearing that, Nao let out chuckle before replying to her.

"Haha, I'm afraid that wasn't a dream, Miss Integrity Knight."

After Nao's voice struck against Eydis's ears, her body shot straight up. Seeing Nao and his family, unfamiliar figures to her, Eydis's body dejectedly slouched forward. Eydis then sighed out.

"Hah...So I'm really stuck here?"

"I'm sorry to say, but that does appear to be the case. It is possible we can return you back to your home, but I'm afraid that's not possible at this very moment."

"As long as there is a possibility, I will stick with it. Though I must say, Nao, was it? You really do got a fancy home! Much more than those houses of those nobles! You got a lot of pretty girls in your family too! It's almost like its a harem!"

"It is a harem. Miss Eydis.", Elsa said, taking this time to approach her. "I'm the one managing it, I'm Nao's Head Wife.", Elsa continued to say. "It's nice to meet you."

"So pretty...", Eydis suddenly uttered to herself the moment she laid eyes upon a similarly big b.r.e.a.s.ted ocean blue long haired woman wearing a frilly dark blue dress, and had very long pointy ears. Eydis's eyes then blinked for a moment, before remembering what Elsa just said right now.

"Wait, are you serious? You all belong to this guy!?"

"Yes, in one way or another."

"Tch, lucky bastard.", Eydis retorted, looking at Nao who was calmly watching her. She then let out another sigh.

"Still, looks like I'm stuck here for the time being?"

"Pretty much. We ourselves just arrived to this place too. It's happened to be called the New World. We were going to back into the throne room to lay out a plan of travel as I send the Valkyries to survey the land to make sure nothing is misaligned. If you want, you can join in our discussion too. But to out it simply, you're now in an extension of the Real World as you'd probably remember it by."

Eydis blinked for a moment before yelling out in surprise.

"Ehhhh!? This is the Real World where Asuna and Kirito are from!?"

"Not in the exact place, not yet exactly, but our location is still part of it. It's a much more vast place than you know, Eydis. Now come, let us discuss our next steps everyone.". Nao said, speaking out to everyone. 'So Eydis came here with enough time spent in SAO's Underworld to know about the real world from Asuna and Kirito, huh...?', Nao thought to himself.

After Nao said that, everyone replied happily, and soon followed him back up the stairs. Eydis, who was still surprised, nodded and walked with them silently.

They soon arrived back in the throne room, and began to discuss their next plan of action as Nao sent out his Valkyries. He was looking forward to exploring what lied beneath the clouds! First stop? The Baharuth Empire!

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A/N : I decided to sum up each Character's age as if they would still have one. Just note as long as Nao has Divine Energy and his family is linked to his Rebirth system, they are immortal. If Nao decides to reincarnate as a baby again in future planes, he can still age like others do, but he won't die of old age)

Fun side page

(This is as of Vol 2 Arc 2)

<<Character's Current Age>>

Nao : 94

Miya : 75

Elsa : 99

Sayuri : 89

Isabella : 119

Chelsea : 72

Tights : 79

Aht : 66

Eir : 106

Chronoa : 100,000,099

Fie : 56

Caulifla : 41

Kale : 38

Vados : Since time immemorial

Towa : 48

Michael: Since time immemorial

Lippti : 261

Nemesia : 29

Iris (Bukubukuchagama) : 35

Eve : 20

Brynhildr : 100

Albedo : 25

Rubedo : 23

Nigredo : 26

Aura: 76

Mare : 76

Shaltear: 16

Hela : 18

(A/N : both Caulifla and Kale are estimated to be super young during ToP, Towa's age currently unknown, I set her to 30 before vol 1 ends, as she traveled through time too much. As for Shaltear, she breaks a lot of traditional vampirism, so I set hers to 16 as a real legal loli)